


Your Perfect Image

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [37]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, No Smut, Vampire Publicist!Caroline, hybrid!Klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 19:11:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14455893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: Caroline has decided it’s time to call it quits as the Originals publicist. It was only supposed to be a temporary gig anyway. A decade was more than long enough.Not everyone agrees.





	Your Perfect Image

Caroline blamed Katerina.

Staring at the vampire sitting in her office, trying to explain his reasoning for ‘accidentally’ eating a few sorority girls, she ground her teeth in frustration. She didn't particularly care that he'd eaten the girls, what she cared about was that he'd done it in public, and in front of cameras. Maybe that was a bit callous of her, but the girls _had_ known what they were getting into. But cameras meant footage of the incident, and that became her problem.

One she really didn't want to deal with.

In the five hundred years since humanity had become aware of the supernatural, both races had been teetering on a careful blade. In the last century, public perception had become an important part of both sides strategy to maintain the current status quo. Which was where her office usually came in.

The job was supposed to just have been a temporary thing, a favor to Katerina. Her sire was finicky and a bit of a bitch, but Caroline had found herself enjoying her friendship a few decades after the whole debacle that had gotten her turned. But that had been more of Elena's fault than anyone's, and Caroline liked being a vampire.

Getting into PR had been a whim, but she'd discovered she was good at it. The camera liked her and she was young enough to relate to the more modern population of humans. More importantly, when she stressed that she didn't think of people as beards of cattle, people believed her.

So when Katerina had called her with what she'd promised had been a temporary position, just an emergency patch job until they could find someone, she'd reluctantly agreed. What Caroline never could have expected was that the family that needed someone to handle their struggling PR Team was the Originals.

That had been jarring, but Katerina had insisted that they'd mostly stay out of her way if she just did her job. Reluctantly she'd stick around, and somehow found herself still there a decade later. It did have its perks. New Orleans was a fabulous city, the pay was good, and her closet had never looked better.

If only the Mikaelson's had actually left her alone to work as she'd been promised. It'd taken weeks before Elijah had stopped questioning her on tactics and trying to offer suggestions on her spreadsheets. Rebekah was all bitch, but one who was at least mostly manageable. She liked to be considered as the saner of her siblings, and Caroline worked hard to make that angle stick.

Kol liked to fling himself into her office chairs and practice his innuendo, waiting until she was heading out before dropping the real reason he'd come by. The third time he'd left her scrambling to deal with an emergency she'd called Bonnie and had the wards on her office adjusted. Then she'd hired a minion to troll the internet looking for any mention of Kol in any capacity. And she'd incentivized the position, making the bonus dependent on avoiding bad publicity.

The first time Kol had bounced off the invisible barrier in her doorway had been a moment she honestly cherished. She hadn’t bothered to look up, had merely waved as he stared at her from the floor and gone back to work.

Then she'd met Klaus.

Promising herself that she'd get a snack at her first available moment, Caroline lowered her hand and smiled. Two hundred years older than her and coming off a blood high, whatever he saw on her face had him blanching.

Good.

Tonight was supposed to be her last after a decade of solid work. That Kol had delivered this idiot into her office with his familiar shit eating grin was an aggravation she didnt want. That she'd quit that morning hadn’t seemed to bother Kol, and he'd left her to the mess, _whistling_ , that bastard.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we? This time, perhaps you'll give me a better reason than _I was hungry_ , hmm?”

Hours later, Caroline dragged her hand tiredly through her limp curls and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling. Three additionally emergencies had landed on her desk, and the box she'd brought in to pack the last of her things hadn't been touched. If it hadn't been for the fact that it had been _Elijah_ who'd taken her resignation she'd have sworn she was being stalled.

Lips compressed, she toed off her shoes and determinedly locked her office door before turning her cell phone off. The office was silent, the spells she'd demanded after listening to Kol serenade her outside the door for five hours were working perfectly.

If she hadn't had a plane ticket to Bora Bora that was leaving in six hours she'd have already called Bonnie to test out long distance cursing. But that would have taken an explanation, and she had _every_ intention of making her flight. A few weeks of beaches and cabana boys w just what she needed to keep from going on some sort of rampage.

 

Caroline stubbornly pushed those thoughts to the side and set about emptying her desk. She'd taken home her emergency heels a few days ago, and had moved out her stash of comfy flats. Now it was just a matter of clearing out the remaining personal effects and she was done.

This time tomorrow, she'd be sipping Bloody Mary's with little umbrella’s while the sun shown bright and happy around her. Humming quietly under her breath, she jolted when her door swung open. Head twisting, Caroline jolted in surprise as Klaus strolled into her office. He looked a little rumpled, his curls a touch unruly, and her stomach dropped at his appearance. Eyes darting to the clock, her mouth tightened.

“What are you doing here?”

Both of his brows rose as he casually closed the door behind him, shutting out the low murmur of the house. “In a hurry, sweetheart?”

Caroline wished she'd kept her heels on as his gaze dragged down her body, lingering on her bare feet for a heartbeat to long. Keeping things formal was a struggle, and any casual intimacy between them was dangerous to her sanity. Making a noise of frustration, she braced her hip on her desk and attempted to brazen it out.

“Nope,” she said. “I'm basically packed and good to go. Please tell me you didn't blow off those meetings in Barcelona. Elijah will have a conniption.”

Something dangerous flickered across his gaze, mouth tightening at the corners. “Elijah is the one who told me you tried to resign.”

Gaze narrowing, she straightened, brain focusing in on the _tried. “_ What? What do you mean, tried?”

Klaus smile was too slow and dangerous. “The final employment decisions are mine, Caroline.”

Both of her brows arched upwards in disbelief. “You must be joking.”

Amusement did nothing to lessen the intensity behind his eyes. “I'm afraid not.”

Setting her teeth, Caroline studied the set of his jaw, stomach flipping into unexpected knots. “I'm happy to print off a copy of my resignation letter. It'll take just a moment.”

“I'm not interested in your resignation, love.”

Head cocking, she arched a brow. “Do you think I won't quit?”

Smiling, he settled into one of her chairs, fingers folding across his abdomen as he stared up at her, completely comfortable. “Do you think I’d allow either outcome?”

Temper leaving her cheeks hot, Caroline bared her teeth. “You don't get a say in what I do, Klaus.”

He laughed. Grinning, he shook his head. “Now that's not entirely true, is it? But we’ll get to that. Tell me why you're leaving.”

She blinked at him, the irritable intensity that burned in his gaze in golden sparks. Klaus could be intimidating when he wished, and when he focused in on her it always felt like the air went out of the room. Tonight was no different, the muscles at the base of her neck tightening the longer he stared at her.

“This was supposed to be a temporary position.”

Klaus angled his head. “But one you've enjoyed.”

She snorted, arms crossing. “Sure, at times. But your family isn't exactly a picnic.”

Dimples, as he shrugged. “You've handled yourself well. I've particularly enjoyed watching you wrangle Kol. I like your mean.”

“Thank you,” she said flatly. “I still quit.”

A quick flash of teeth and he motioned to her chair. “And I still haven't heard your reasoning. Think of this as an exit interview.”

Irritated, because getting out of this office with Klaus in a mood was a fairly pointless, she sat. Klaus continued to watch her, gaze heavy against her skin.

“I have a flight I'm not missing,” she warned him. His gaze narrowed, and he made a noise low in his throat that did nothing to lower her blood pressure.

“Are you not happy, love?”

“You don't care if your minions are happy,” Caroline said in disbelief.

“Now, that's hardly a fair statement.”

She rolled her eyes. “You enjoy people being afraid of you

“It is fairly expedient, to avoid being questioned,” he agreed unapologetically. “But it is not always the correct tool. And it is rare, Caroline, that you allow yourself to be intimidated. Fear isn't the scent that lingers on your skin when I'm near.”

Her nails dug into her thigh, as she struggled not to blush at the slight deepening of his voice. Huffing, she sidestepped the innuendo in his voice. “When I agreed to fill in, this was a temporary role.”

“So you've said,” he agreed.

“Even by vampiric standards, a decade is a bit much for a temporary position,” Caroline said in exasperation.

“For some,” Klaus agreed without batting a lash. “But you're still adjusting your expectations of time.”

“What does that mean?”

Klaus stood then, hands clasped behind his back. He didn't move towards her, but her breath caught anyway. “Give me your demands.”

“What?”

A hint of a smile, as his tongue snaked across his lips. Heat flushed at her throat, and she set her teeth in frustration. This was why she needed some space. This ridiculous attraction to Klaus wasn't at all useful, and if she hadn't had Bonnie swearing that the spells she'd cast in her apartment would keep even an original from dream walking in her head, she'd have been alarmed with exactly how explicit her dreams had become. She’d had a terrible dry pull, and she didn't plan on just looking at those cabana boys.

If she could get out of this damn office.

“Has it occurred to you, Caroline, that the reason we haven't replaced you is because we haven't found anyone better yet?”

“Seriously?” She groaned, shoving a loose strand of hair away from her face. “You mean you hadn't anyone else crazy enough to stick around.”

“Perhaps,” he murmured. A thoughtful, heated glance from beneath his lashes as he watched her. “But regardless of circumstance, you are the best for the job, and we’d like you to stay.”

Caroline studied him suspiciously. “You said that in a way that almost makes it sound like you think you're giving me a choice.”

“Did it?” Klaus drawled, gaze shifting into something almost teasing. “Perhaps I am. Think about while you're on your vacation, love. You're in an excellent place to negotiate.”

Caroline watched him leave with a jaw gone slack with surprise. Klaus didn't negotiate. He didn't even ask nicely. It's why her lingering crush frustrated her. Klaus was an ass. He pushed and bullied, and occasionally murdered to get his way. It was just that sometimes, those moments when he teased or attempted to cajole, she sort of enjoyed him.

Setting her teeth, she slipped on her shoes, grabbing her box and strode out of the mansion with determined footsteps. She had a month of a beach vacation in front of her and she knew, she just knew, that wondering just what he meant by negotiate was going to bother her.

Damn the man.

 

 


End file.
